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Shane Watson is to miss the third and fourth One-Day Internationals against England with all-rounder Daniel Christian joining up with the Australia squad as cover.

Watson had already been rested for tomorrow's second ODI in Brisbane but he will now take an extended break and be unavailable for the matches in Sydney (19th January) and Perth (24th January).

He will rejoin the squad ahead of the fifth and final match in Adelaide on 26th January.

"Given Shane’s workload in the past 12 months we consider it would be beneficial for him to have a longer break and continue his training program at home in Sydney ahead of the final ODI and the tour of South Africa," head coach Darren Lehmann said.

"Dan Christian, who has been in excellent form in recent weeks, has been added to the ODI Squad to provide an all-round option in Shane’s absence."

Christian has played 17 ODIs for Australia as well as 11 Twenty20 Internationals and has this season hit 155 runs in one-day games and 186 runs in six Twenty20 matches.

Australia lead the ODI series 1-0 after a six-wicket win in the opening match in Melbourne.